A Rose's Thorns
by MmeGray
Summary: The next generation of Hogwarts students are starting school. Rose's father has warned her to stay away from the Malfoy boy. But will she? Dealthly Hallows Spoilers! Compatible with epilogue  mostly . I suck at summaries :-/
1. The Hogwarts Express

**Yes, I'm back! ^_^ I have missed writing, so I'm trying something new. For those of you who read Vacation of Pleasure, I will try to start updating it again. Unfortunately, I've lost ALL my notes for the story. :-/ So just bear with me, please?**

**I don't own Harry Potter or the characters. I just have fun with them. And the stuff that's straight from the epilogue is written in **_**Italics**_**. DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS AHEAD!**

Standing with my parents and little brother in my new Hogwarts robes, I looked around for Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny with my three cousins. But I couldn't see very far with all the smoke from the Hogwarts Express swirling around us. We were near the last carriage of the train, and my mum and dad were still hugging and kissing me good-bye. There were four silhouettes growing sharper as the people walked towards us. When they got close enough, I saw that it was my aunt, uncle, Al, and Lily.

"_Hí," said Albus, sounding immensely relieved._

"_Parked all right, then?" _Daddy asked Uncle Harry._ "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."_

"_No, I didn't," _Mummy said, _"I had complete faith in you."_

"_As a matter of fact, I _did_ Confund him," Daddy whispered to Uncle Harry, as together they lifted Albus's trunk and owl onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."_

I looked around, inwardly chastising Daddy for cheating on his Muggle driving test. Mummy always said that cheating was wrong. So why would Daddy cheat? I saw Lilly and Hugo, my little brother, talking about the Houses at Hogwarts and which ones they wanted to be in when they finally went. I suddenly heard Daddy talking and I turned to him.

"_If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you but no pressure."_ I knew Daddy was probably joking, but his words made me start to worry a little.

"Ron!" Mummy yelled.

_Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and I looked solemn._

"_He doesn't mean it,"_ Mummy and Aunt Ginny said. Daddy wasn't looking at them though. He looked at Uncle Harry, and _nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist._

"_Look who it is."_

I looked. All I saw was a tall man with platinum blond hair and a receding hairline standing with a woman and a little boy—most likely his wife and son. The little boy looked like the older man almost like Al looked like Uncle Harry. The man looked over at our group, _nodded curtly, and turned away again._

"_So that's little Scorpius," _Daddy said quietly. _"Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."_

"_Ron, for heaven's sake. Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school," _Mummy said, sounding angry but smiling.

"_You're right, sorry. Don't get _too_ friendly with him, though, Rosie," _Daddy said, turning back to me. _"Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."_ I didn't know why Daddy was telling me to beat this boy at everything. He looked nice, even though he was dressed in dark clothing. Even though his father had about snubbed us, he had at least acknowledged my family's presence. Maybe the older man, Daddy, and Uncle Harry were old acquaintances at Hogwarts.

"_Hey!"_ I heard James exclaim. He was running towards us from one of the carriages. _"Teddy's back there. Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? _Snogging Victoire!"

He was pointing over his shoulder towards the train. _"_Our _Teddy! _Teddy Lupin!_ Snogging_ our_Victoire__! _Our_ cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing—"_

"_You interrupted them? You are _so_ like Ron—"_ Aunt Ginny cut in quietly.

"—_and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's _snogging_ her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear._

"_Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would _really_ be part of the family then!"_

"_He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," Uncle Harry said. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"_

"_Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al—Teddy could have my room!"_

"_No," _Uncle Harry said sternly,_ "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."_ Uncle Harry then checked his watch. _"It's nearly eleven; you'd better get on board."_

"_Don't forget to send Neville our love!" _ Aunt Ginny said as she gave James a hug.

"_Mum! I can't give a professor _love_!"_

"_But you _know_ Neville—"_

_James rolled his eyes._

"_Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him_ love._…"_

_Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus._

"_See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."_

"_I thought they were invisible? _You said they were invisible!"

_But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then spring away up the corridor to find his friends._

"_Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Uncle Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."_

_Aunt Ginny kissed Albus good-bye._

"_See you at Christmas."_

"_Bye, Al," said Uncle Harry as Al hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."_

Al then whispered something to Uncle Harry, and I turned to let my parents and little brother say good-bye to me. After lots of hugs and kisses—mostly from Daddy—we boarded the train. When James, Al, and I were situated in our little space, we looked out the window at our parents. Then I heard Albus ask, _"Why are they all _staring_?" _I looked around. Sure enough, lots of people were staring at our group, mainly Uncle Harry.

"_Don't let it worry you. It's me. I'm extremely famous," _Daddy said. Al, Hugo, Lily and I laughed._ The train began to move, and Uncle Harry walked alongside it._ We were all waving out the window to our parents until we couldn't see them anymore. We settled back into our seats as we saw the countryside begin to take over the scenery. It was beautiful! Everything was green, and the hills were very large. There were lakes and small rivers that were sparkling in the sun as we passed by them. They looked like they had millions of diamonds just floating on top of the water.

In the background, I heard James and Al arguing about Houses again. James had been bothering Al for weeks about being in Slytherin. They'd done it at Grandma Weasley's luncheon last Saturday, and she'd taken her wand to both their backsides for arguing during lunch.

"I will _not_ be in Slytherin! Dad said so!" Al said defensively.

"Would you two give it a rest already?" I said, trying to get them to shut it. There was a knock on the door, and a nice old lady with a trolley full of sweets asked us if we wanted anything. James jumped up and went to the sliding door.

"Three pumpkin pasties, packet of Berty Bott's, three licorice wands, and six chocolate frogs," he said, pulling some galleons out of his pocket. After he bought the sweets, we divided them equally and decided to eat the licorice wands first. When only the chocolate frogs were left to open—the Berty Bott's left unopened for fear of what we'd get—there was a knock on our sliding door.

"Excuse me."

We looked up. It was that boy from the platform, Scorpius. He had platinum blond hair like his father, and his features were very sharp and angular. But his were not as defined as his father's.

He looked slightly nervous, so I stood up and introduced myself, offering him my hand.

"Hello. I'm Rose Weasley. What's your name?"

"My name is Scorpius Malfoy," he said, taking my hand and placing a light kiss on the back of it while giving a little bow. I was surprised at his actions, and I'm sure I was blushing furiously. I pulled my hand back and gestured to my cousins.

"These two are James and Albus Potter," I told Scorpius. "They are my cousins."

"Potter?" said Scorpius. "As in _Harry_ Potter?"

"Yeah, he's our dad," James said, standing up and shaking a stunned Scorpius's hand. "I'm James, by the way. Albus is the one still sitting." With that, he gave Al a little kick to get him to stand. With all four of us standing, the compartment was starting to feel a little crowded. I shoved James and Al back down to their seats to that Scorpius would have room to sit next to me.

"So, how do you know about our dad?" Al asked Scorpius while opening a chocolate frog.

"Are you joking?" Scorpius said. "Your dad is famous! He defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort almost twenty years ago!"

"Now I know you're joking," Al said. "Dad's never defeated anything other than the gnomes in the backyard! Right James?" Al turned to James then.

"No, he's right Al," James said. "Dad did defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort. We had a chat about it at Christmas my first year. Remember Dad and I went off to my room when I brought it up?" Al nodded his head, and I was interested to see where this story would go. I'd never heard of this either.

"Yeah," Al said. "You'd brought been talking about your Wizarding History class and you mentioned the Dark Lord Voldemort. Then Dad asked if you and he could talk and went to your room."

"Well, Dad wanted to talk to me about the rumors I'd heard while at school," James continued. "I'd told him that everyone was staring and asking if I was the great Harry Potter's son. Gets old after a while." He gave a little shrug. "You get used to it. The main thing about it is to play it off like it's no big deal."

"No big deal?" Scorpius said. I'd almost forgotten he was there. "Your father vanquished the most evil sorcerer known to wizardkind! My father admires him greatly."

"So, Uncle Harry defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort?" I asked. I was stunned. I'd never thought of Uncle Harry as a violent person before. Because he wasn't a violent person.

"Yes. Harry Potter and all his friends fought the final battle at Hogwarts," Scorpius told us. "He also died to save them!"

"How could he have died to save his friends?" Al asked. "He's clearly not dead. You saw him!"

"I'm not sure," Scorpius said. "All I know is what my father told me. Harry Potter died to save his friends from the Dark Lord Voldemort, who is the one who killed him. My Grandmother Malfoy was there when it happened. She declared Harry Potter dead, and it possibly saved his life."

"Why was your Grandmother there?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he said, looking away from us. I got the feeling that he did know, but didn't want to tell us. I didn't want to push him, although I was interested now. James and Al didn't press him either, and we started talking about Quidditch.

I hoped to one day play for the Chudley Cannons—Daddy's and my favorite Quidditch team. Daddy and I had practiced flying with two of the broomsticks in the shed outside. Daddy always played Keeper, and I was the Chaser and Seeker. While we didn't have a real Quaffle or Golden Snitch, Mummy had bought a basketball and a golf ball from a Muggle store, painted the golf ball gold, and charmed it to fly like the Snitch. Daddy once suggested playing with pretend Bludgers, but Mummy had said no. Sometimes Hugo would play with us, and we had a competition to see who could catch the "Snitch" first. I usually got it first.

"How can you like the Cannons though?" Scorpius was saying. James and Al liked the Cannons too. "The Holyhead Harpies are the best team there is!"

"But the Harpies are all _girls_," Al said. "You can't have a Quidditch team with all girls!"

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "While the Cannons are my favorite team, I have to admit that the Harpies have done wonderfully this season! So what if they are all girls? That just proves that girls are better Quidditch players than boys!"

"Says who?" James asked. "Uncle Ron? He just says that cuz you're his daughter. He _has_ to say that!"

"Careful, Potter," I said, trying to sound menacing. "Your jealousy is showing."

"Yeah right, Weaslette," he said. He knew I hated that nickname. I was the only Weasley girl besides Victoire, and the nickname had never fit her. Since my Uncles Charlie, George, and Percy all had sons, the name was never passed on. Until me.

"James!" I exclaimed. "I hate that name!" He just smiled. I huffed and slouched a little more in my seat. Scorpius looked a little confused.

"Why do you and your cousin call each other by last names?" he finally asked.

James laughed. "It's an on-going joke between us. My mum is the only girl out of five other boys. Since her last name isn't Weasley, Rose is the only Weasley girl out of all the cousins. Lily doesn't count cuz she's technically not a Weasley."

"Who's Lily?" asked Scorpius.

"She's their little sister, and my cousin," I told him. "She won't start for another year." After that, we started talking about everything and anything for the next two hours until we arrived at the platform in Hogsmeade. I learned that Scorpius's mum was named Pansy, and that his father had gone to school with mine and James and Al's parents. I also learned that he expected to be in Sorted into Slytherin since both his parents were, and that he was expected to excel in Potions. He also wanted to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team as soon as he could—Seeker—and that he couldn't wait to beat James—also a Seeker—in a match. Even though we'd only known each other for an hour or so, it felt like we'd been best friends for a long time.

**2,580 words in one chapter! Whew! So, what do y'all think? Should I continue with this story? Or should I drop everything and run back to my semi-normal life? If I get at least fifteen people review saying they want the story to continue, I'll update the story. Between work and college, not sure when that will be, but it will be within two weeks of the fifteenth review that says yes. If I don't get at least fifteen, I'll post an author's note letting people know that the story won't continue. :-( So get crackin' and press that little button to leave me some love and feedback!**


	2. Getting to Know Scorpius

**So, I know Draco didn't actually marry Pansy Parkinson. But when I wrote chapter 1, I wasn't thinking too clearly. Waking up at 5:00a, staying up all day, and writing at 1:00a will do that to you. ^_^ But I'm not planning on Scorpius's mother coming up again anytime soon—unless he refers to his parents in the plural—so I really don't think it's that big of a deal, and I'm not going to bother changing it now that it's already posted. But Astoria Greengrass—Scorpius's mother in the series—may make an appearance as his godmother or something. Who knows?**

**Anyways thanks to everyone for the great reviews and putting this story on their story alerts!**

**By the way, this chapter is in Scorpius's point of view. Just so there isn't any confusion.**

After talking with Rose Weasley and her cousins—James and Albus, the sons of the great _Harry Potter_!—I found myself relaxing as they joked around with each other. It was interesting seeing how these three interacted. I was an only child myself, and so were both my parents. I had no aunts, uncles, or cousins. Watching them, I started feeling jealous; something I'd never felt about another person before.

My life was almost perfect. Perfect parents, perfect grandparents—though Grandfather Malfoy was a bit stern—perfect house, perfect clothes, perfect everything. My parents and I lived at Malfoy Manor with my grandparents, as per family tradition. When Grandfather Malfoy passed on, Father would become the sole master of the manor. I'd thought this was how other people lived their life. There were no siblings. No aunts or uncles. No family stories to joke around about. Seeing these three joking and poking fun at each other made me feel like an outsider looking in.

"Scorpius!"

I realized I'd been woolgathering when I heard Miss Weasley yell my name and her hand landed on my shoulder. I slightly shook my head to clear my depressing thoughts and paid attention to what the three cousins were saying.

"Yes, Miss Weasley?" I said politely.

"Please, it's Rose," she said. "And I asked you what House you thought you'd be in."

"That is easy," I replied. "Slytherin. My whole family has been in Slytherin for generations."

Miss Wea—Rose laughed. "I'll bet your bedroom is even painted in green and silver!"

James and Albus—Al to his family—laughed with her. Of course it was. I nearly told them as much when I realized Mis—_Rose_ was just teasing me. It was an interesting thing, being teased. I'd never been teased. Both of my grandfathers were very stern, and my grandmothers just went along with what they thought. And my parents followed by their examples. Compared to what their lives must be like, mine almost seemed like it was dull. Their funny stories and their ability to laugh at themselves was making me wonder what my life would be like if my family were as. . ._relaxed_ as the Potter and Weasley families.

"So is it?"

James Potter's voice pulled me back out of my melancholy thoughts.

"Is it what?" I asked, not sure what he was asking me.

"Is your room painted in green and silver?" he said.

"Scorpius, are you feeling alright?" Rose asked. I looked at her and she looked almost concerned.

"Yes, I am perfectly fine," I replied. "And for your information, my room is indeed painted green and silver. Grandmother Malfoy had it decorated when I was born."

"Cool," Al said. "I wish Mum and Dad would let us paint our rooms!"

"You know Mum would just get paint everywhere," James told his brother. Then there was a knock on the compartment door, and we all four of us turned our heads. A pretty Ravenclaw girl was standing there.

"James, why haven't you come yet?" she asked him. "We've been waiting for you for ages!"

"Oh Merlin." James shot out of his chair and started gathering his stuff with him. "Sorry guys, I have to go."

"Where are you going?" Al and Rose both asked at the same time.

"I promised my friends a Wizard's Chess Tournament!"

"You play Wizard's Chess?" I asked him.

"Of course," Rose said. "We all do. So I'm surprised you haven't invited us to join, _cousin_." The way she stressed the word _cousin_ had me feeling like she was trying to get some point across.

"These are your cousins?" asked the Ravenclaw girl.

"Family, yeah. Well, except for the blond kid," James joked. "Morgan, this is my brother Al, our cousin Rose, and our new friend Scorpius."

"Nice to meet you all," Morgan said, shaking each of our hands as James introduced us. "Would you three like to join our Tournament?"

"Thank you, Morgan," Rose said. "We'd love to!"

James then groaned and muttered something under his breath about cousins butting in where they weren't supposed to be. But when I looked at him, he just had a smile on his face like he was glad his family was interrupting something between him and his friends.

We all followed James and Morgan down a little ways to an overlarge compartment. Siting in the middle of the compartment was a beautiful ebony and ivory wizard's chess set. Looking a little closer I could see each detail on the chess pieces. The queens and their respective kings were so lifelike, I half expected their robes to feel like the softest fur. However, chess pieces usually didn't like to be touched by anyone.

Around the chess set were three more people, one of who was holding what looked like a roster.

"Oi, James!" one of them said. "Where you been?" The speaker was another girl, a Gryffindor. She looked exactly like Morgan. I was pretty sure they were twins.

"Sorry, Veronica," James replied, sitting next to her. "Got caught up talking with my brother and cousin. So what's the match up?"

"Not looking good, James," the Hufflepuff boy across from him said. "Since Jasmine's hanging out with her so-called boyfriend, we're one player short."

"Rotten luck," James said. "Well, fortunately for us, I've drafted my brother, cousin, and friend Scorpius here to join in."

"More of your family?" the boy said. "Isn't your family big enough?"

"Sod off, Geoff."

"James!" Rose and Albus said together. But Rose continued, "You know Aunt Ginny doesn't like that word!"

"Oh yeah?" he challenged. "And how's Mum going to know I said it? I know Al won't write to Mum, because then I'll let her know that he says it too!"

"I do not!" Al said defensively.

"James, really," Morgan and Veronica said. "Are we going to play or are you going to continue arguing with your family?" Veronica asked. Turning to me, she said, "I don't believe I've ever met you. I'm Veronica Fey. You've already met my sister Morgan, I presume?" When I nodded, she introduced everyone else. "The Hufflepuff boy is Geoff Fletchy, and the quiet boy over there is Christophe Black, Slytherin."

Everyone waved at their respective names, and I was slightly surprised that there was a Slytherin in this little groups. According to my father and grandfathers, Slytherin and Gryffindor Houses did not get along. Actually, Grandfather Malfoy had taught me that Slytherin House was superior to the other three Houses because it was a House for Purebloods only. I was a little surprised at myself for befriending James, since he's a Gryffindor himself. But these other people we not judgmental simply because of what House they were in. It was a strange thing for me to witness. But soon enough, I became comfortable with all their teasing and decided to join in.

The Wizard's Chess Tournament was soon underway with James and Christophe facing off, Veronica and Morgan, Rose and Al, and myself and Geoff. James easily out-maneuvered Christophe and won within the first thirty minutes. I easily defeated Geoff, though he was a good opponent. Rose and Al were equally matched, but she eventually won in the end. Veronica and Morgan, however, were still going by the time the rest of us were done. But with a sneaky move that forced her to sacrifice her queen, Veronica trapped Morgan's king with one of her castles, one of her knights, and a pawn.

After the original four games, James and I faced off, and Rose partnered with Veronica. Both games were very close. More than once, James came close to taking my king, but Grandfather Malfoy had taught me to play. I knew about sneaky tactics and when to retreat. James's strategy seemed to be charge in and maneuver in the moment. While that worked with Christophe, the way James played allowed me to trick him into thinking backing down meant surrender. Once he had his guard down, thinking he'd won, I easily trapped his king, calling Checkmate.

We shook hands, congratulating each other on a game well-played. We then watched the girls finish out their game. While James wanted Veronica to win, I was silently cheering for Rose. Veronica and Rose were both skilled players. They both took time to think about moves, and they seemed to know what they were doing. But where Veronica looked serene with every move she made, never giving anything away, Rose definitely got into the game, scrunching up her nose while she thought about the different moves she could make and their consequences. And if Veronica took one of her pieces, she'd either smile evilly as Veronica fell into a trap, or purse her lips in frustration. Seeing her emotions so clearly written on her face was a delight, something I'd never seen with my family. My parents, like their parents, did not show emotion. No one in my family did. Holidays were staid events where even gift exchanging was polite and slightly cold.

"Check"

Veronica's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked down at the board, and saw that Veronica was a move away from winning. But then Rose moved her last remaining knight and took the bishop in danger of taking her king, then called out "Checkmate."

We all looked, and sure enough, Rose had won. She'd practically had her remaining castle sneak up on the king, and closed him in with her bishop, and two pawns. It was interesting to see. Even I hadn't caught it while she was playing. It was like using a distraction in a war so the enemy wouldn't see the last crushing blow.

"Great game, Rose," Veronica said. "You are definitely a worthy opponent!" She and Rose then hugged, and then it was time for Rose and me to play in the final round.

**So, I'm just going to write the "Final Round" in the next chapter. ^_^ Hopefully it turns out alright. My dad and I are going to play so that I can actually write out the corresponding moves. So the match will be in FULL detail. Hopefully!**

**Aside from that, what'd y'all think (yeah, I'm from Texas). I'd love to hear—read—your thoughts on this chapter! So please **_**please**_** PLEASE review!**

**And for those of you who actually read my ramblings, I applaud y'all for bearing with my randomness. :-D Even my best friends have trouble getting through my ramblings! And speaking of ramblings, I'm going to stop now before I write another chapter or a whole book. Review please!**


	3. The Final Round

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Christmas vacation, then New Year's, and college starting! Almost zero computer time. I think the only time I was able to get on was to pay a bill or two...Anyways! This chapter is the "final round" in the impromptu tournament on the Hogwarts Express berween Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. I tried to get my dad to play a game with me, but no time. :-/**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it! BTW this chapter is in Rose's POV. I'm gonna be switching off every chapter.**

**And, unfortunately, I own nada except for my personally created characters.**

As Scorpius and I sat down across from each other in front of the chess board, I was starting to get excited. My father had taught me to play Wizard's Chess, and Mum always said I inherited his skill for the game. But while I was good, I've never beaten my dad at a game. Maybe someday it will happen. Looking across at Scorpius I could see him looking excited too. I'd seen him play whenever I could glance over, and he was good. I was pulled out of my thoughts by my cousin James grabbing a black pawn and a white pawn. While the pieces didn't like to be touchef, the pasns understood the need and didn't put up a fight as a king or queen would. James turned his back to us, then turned around, holding his closed fists out to us.

"Ladies first," Scorpius said, putting his hand out as indication that I should choose my colour. After thinking it over, I tapped James's left hand. He turned his fist over, and revealed the black pawn. While I didn't outwardly display it, I was happy I'd chosen the black pawn. When your opponent went first, sometimes you can tell what their playing style was like based on the pawn-or knight, as case may be-they decided to play first.

Scorpius moved the pawn in front of his queen's side rook first. Interesting. Dad told me that most people would move their pawns in front of the knights, queen, or king first. In response, I also moved my pawn in front the queen's side rook. Dad had taught me this technique of copying a new opponent's moves, just to get a feel for their playing style and throw them a little off-kilter. I hadn't needed to use this particular strategy with the others; James had talked about matches with them all before, and I knew about their styles of playing. And I had never needed to do this with James and Al because we grew up playing together and they were used to my semi-bold strategies. I also knew how they played. Scorpius, however, was unknown.

For the first minute or so, I copied all of Scorpius's moves exactly. I realized almost right away what his style was: cunning, sneaky. If his opponent wasn't paying close attention, theh'd fall right into an inescapable trap and start losing their pieces one by one.

"Knight to H-3," he said. Instead of copying him, ad I'm sure he expected, I moved my king's side bishop to capture his released rook.

He looked stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't figure out what had happened. Then he smiled.

"I've walked into something of a trap, haven't I?"

I smiled back and said,"Keep playing and you'll find out." I heard my two cousins chuckle. They knew exactly what I'd done. Dad had taught them somewhat too, along with Aunt Ginny pitching in when she could.

We continued playing after that, me using my own battle strategies and avoiding trap after trap set by Scorpius. We eventually came to a stalemate. Neither of us quite knew how it happened, but we somehow had only our kings and a few pawns left. We looked at the board, then eachnother, shocked. Around us, we heard people clapping. Startled out of our little bubble, we looked around. More people had gatherdd at the enterence to our compartment, most of them in their robes.

"Good game, Weasley," Scorpius said, holding out his hand. I shook it.

"Good game, Malfoy."

**Short chapter, I know. Sorry! But if it's any consolation, I'm making the next chapter much longer. ^_^ Those who review will get a little preview of Chapter 4!**


	4. The Sorting Ceremony

**And now the much-anticipated Chapter 4. For those of you who got previews, you've already seen this first part. Now, to EternallyPivots and lalala, I couldn't send it to y'all! Don't know what the deal was, but I'm sorry y'all didn't get it. And I did try to send it to you two! Anyways, on with Chapter 4! (BTW this is in Scorpius's POV)**

**As always, I don't own anything other than the characters I've created. Jo Rowling owns anything even remotely recognizable. Sad face.**

_We'd come to a stalemate._

That's the only thing that had been occupying my head since the chess game. Miss Weasley—Rose—was an outstanding chess player, and a wonderful opponent to match with. Her copying my every move had thrown me a little, but afterwards I realized what she'd done. The minx did it to get a feel for my tactics. And it worked, much to my surprise. When Grandfather Malfoy was teaching me to play, he'd always said that most people were too bold and hasty when playing; skill, patience, and cunning were needed in order to win properly.

But when Rose had a feel for my strategies, she was able to avoid my traps.

We were in the Great Hall, all the first-years gathered in the centre, waiting to be Sorted. I already had a feeling I'd be in Slytherin. My whole family has been in Slytherin for over 800 years, probably longer than that. While my mother and I were in Madame Malkin's shop in Diagon Alley, Mother had wanted to just put the Slytherin Crest where the usual Hogwarts Crest was supposed to be. Madame Malkin had explained to Mother that there was a charm around the castle that would just change the crest from Slytherin to Hogwarts. My mother relented, but she still was unhappy that I couldn't declare my "proud, pure-blooded, Slytherin bloodline in front of all and sundry." Then again, Mother was never happy with anything.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

My name being called brought me out of my melancholia. I walked up to where the headmistress was standing, scroll in one hand, Sorting Hat in the other. I sat on the stool next to her, and she placed the Hat on my head.

"Another Malfoy, eh?" I heard. "This should be easy but…there is something—rebellion. Wanting to be different. Both parents' families, but one. So, where to put you…?"

As I was listening to the Hat talk, I became a little confused. Both parents' families, but one? What did that mean? But I was also thinking about how my father, mother, and grandparents would be disappointed if I wasn't in—

"Slytherin!"

I released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and headed over to the Slytherin table. As I sat down, my hand was taken by a much older boy.

"Marek Flint, Slytherin Prefect," he said, giving my hand a violent shake.

"Nice to meet you, Marek," I told him.

"So, you're Draco and Pansy Malfoy's son?"

"Yes, I am," I told him hesitantly. I wasn't quite sure where he was going with his questions.

"My father was captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and said your father was an amazing Seeker," he told me, running his hair through his greasy-looking black hair. I fought the urge to wipe my hand on my robes. I briefly considered changing the subject when I heard—

"Potter, Albus!"

I looked over to see Al going toward the stool. He looked slightly nervous, but I wasn't sure why. Getting Sorted wasn't that scary, was it? After about 15 seconds of sitting on the stool, the Hat finally shouted, "Gryffindor!"

When Al walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat down next to James, he looked relieved.

"Merlin, another one?"

I looked to where the voice had come from and saw the girl who had spoken. She was beautiful. Blonde hair almost as light as mine, but cold blue eyes that reminded me of ice. Her skin was pale, almost transparent, but her beauty was marred by a nasty sneer that twisted her features.

"What's wrong with the Potters?" I asked. Everyone stared at me as if I'd suddenly grown wings and turned into a Cornish Pixie.

"You're sure you're the son of _Draco_ Malfoy?" Marek asked. "There aren't some bastards from the wrong side of the family tree?"

"Of course I'm the son of Draco Malfoy," I said defensively.

"Then surely you know that Potter and your father were school enemies?" he said.

"My father never told me that," I said quietly, wondering why Father had never mentioned anything…

_***Begin Flashback***_

"_Father?" I asked, trying to get into Father's lap._

"_Yes, Scorpius?" he replied, picking me up and arranging me on his thighs._

"_Did you know Harry Potter?"_

_Father looked surprised for a moment, then looked like he was remembering something. Then he smiled._

"_Yes, I did know him," he finally said. "He is a brave man. You know he saved my life. Twice, in fact. We actually went to Hogwarts together."_

_I looked at my father with wide eyes. "Really, Father?"_

_Father laughed. "Yes, really. Now, despite the fact that it is your birthday, you still need to get to bed at a decent hour."_

_He set me down, stood up, and called for our house elf. She appeared, and started leading me toward my bedroom._

"_Goodnight, Father."_

"_Goodnight, son," he said. "And happy 5__th__ birthday."_

_***End Flashback***_

"Weasley, Rose!"

Hearing her name snapped me out of my reverie to see all the shocked faces staring at me. I ignored them and turned to watch Rose be Sorted. When she sat on the stool beneath the Hat, I heard the girl speak again, this time in a whisper.

"Blood traitors."

I whipped my head around to give her the infamous "Malfoy Sneer". Father had taught me at an early age that the family sneer would help me along the way against idiots and simpletons. Of course, it worked, and she shrunk back a little. But I just turned back around in dismissal to watch Rose be Sorted.

**I was going to stop here, but I decided to go on because I love y'all!**

Almost as soon as the Hat hit her head, it cried out "Gryffindor!" She smiled widely, and her face lit up with it. She nearly ran towards the table to sit with her cousins. Rose's long hair flowed behind her, and then she disappeared into the mob that was her cousins. They had all stood up when her House was called, and they swarmed her. When they all sat down, we briefly met each other's eyes before a hand waved in front of my face.

"Malfoy!"

"What?" I said sharply, looking to my left where the hand had come from.

"You do realize that the girl is a Weasley, right?" Marek said, looking at me like I was a lunatic.

"Yes, what of it?" I asked. When he opened his mouth to speak, I cut him off with a wave of my hand. "Do you really think that whole 'pure-blood-mud-blood' thing has any merit anymore? Lord Voldemort is dead. His followers are either dead, in Azkaban, or keeping their noses clean. No one cares about bloodlines anymore."

The blonde-haired girl stared at me. "You're a fool to think like that," she said. "You know as well as we do that there are still people out there that will judge you based on your bloodlines, let alone who you fraternize with."

I stared at her in disbelief. "You make it sound as if the war is still going on!"

"The war is still going on, Malfoy!" Marek nearly shouted. A few of the other first-years looked over at us. I found it humorous then that I was also a first-year, but I was being talked to like a much-older student simply because of who my parents were. I had just wanted to be accepted for who I was, not who my parents were. When the Headmaster clapped his hands for our attention, I turned to look.

Headmaster Godolphin was an older man with short grey-and-black hair, and a short beard and moustache. He also wore round spectacles with slim black frames and long, dark red robes with silver and black stars. His robes reminded me of a Muggle Halloween costume I saw once. I guessed it was for the benefit of the Muggle-born first-years who may or may not have known about their magic.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" he said. His voice echoed throughout the Great Hall, and I saw more than one pair of eyes widen in awe. "For those who may not know, I am Professor Godolphin. While I do enjoy getting to know each student that walks these halls, I must inform everyone that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students, including any seventh-years who may feel the need to initiate new students—" I noticed this statement was directed to someone at the Gryffindor table—"And our Herbology teacher, Professor Longbottom, has asked me to inform you that Greenhouse Three is to remain locked, as there are some plants being housed that need the uninterrupted silence the Greenhouse offers. If any students are caught trying to unlock the Greenhouse, they will receive detention until Christmas." This was met with many groans and moans from the Great Hall until he held his hand up, demanding our attention once more. "I believe in letting students decide for themselves the lives they wish to lead, but I also believe in a firm hand, as well as mutual respect. Therefore, I will respect you if you will respect me, your professors, your classmates, and the rules.

"Now, enough of the Start of Term lecture. Let the feast begin!"

**So, there's chapter 4, much longer than I planned it to be! What do y'all think? And I've got a question for y'all: What should the girl's name be? I've got a few ideas, but nothing sounds right yet. Maybe y'all have some good names I should consider? And just something to keep in mind: I'm making her not-so-human. Can anyone figure out what she may be?**


	5. Feasting and Teasing

**Yeah, it's been a while since I updated. But now that it's Spring Break, I can update! Yay. So here's Chapter 5. I've been working on it for the past month. Lots of writing! Anyways, this chapter is in Rose's POV. Enjoy!**

**P.S. I still don't own Harry Potter or any recognizable characters. JK Rowling alone has that privilege. Sad day.**

"Weasley, Rose!"

I walked toward the stool, and looked at Scorpius again. He seemed to be looking at the beautiful veela girl. I knew she was a veela because of _ma Tante_ Fleur. Though she was part veela, she'd taught all the boys how to spot a veela, and how to avoid becoming completely bewitched by one.

She seemed to be talking to Scorpius, but her features were turned in a nasty-looking scowl. Scorpius finally said something to her, and she seemed to back down. I briefly wondered what happened between them when I got to the stool.

I sat down, and I felt the hat briefly touch my head. Almost immediately, the hat cried out "Gryffindor!" I ran excitedly over to the Gryffindor table—which was loaded with my cousins—and all of them stood up to hug me. I was immediately surrounded by a sea of Weasley's; the only ones missing were my brother, James' and Al's sister Lily, and Teddy Lupin, who'd passed his N.E.W.T.s two years ago.

"So! Another proud Weasley Gryffindor!" said Artie, my Uncle Bill's son.

I looked over to see Scorpius talking to the same group as before, and the veela girl's face was still distorted by a vicious scowl. The boy who was talking with her and Scorpius also looked sour-faced. They almost seemed to be lecturing him about something, and he couldn't look less interested.

When the headmaster stood up and made his Start of Term lecture, I was slightly confused. Professor Longbottom hadn't said anything to Aunt Ginny about new plants in the greenhouses. I soon forgot my confusion when food appeared on the plates.

As one, my cousins all started grabbing at the food. Before I could grab so much as a bit of shepherd's pie, all the food near my cousins was gone.

"Merlin, you boys are animals!"

I turned and saw Veronica form the train looking at my cousins in disgust. Then she turned to me.

"Do they always eat like this?" she asked.

I nodded my head, watching as more food appeared on the table. I dished myself some shepherd's pie, bangers, and a small helping of mushy peas. "It's worse when the whole family gets together," I told her. "Six uncles, plus all the kids?" I shuddered. "Pandemonium."

"Wow," Veronica said. "How do you manage being the only girl?"

"_Pardon __moi_? I am certainly no boy!"

I whipped my head around to see my cousin Victoire looking over at us. I just smiled at her.

"You may not be a boy," said Artie, "But Teddy sure is!"

Victoire turned bright red with embarrassment, and then she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Shut it, Artie!"

Because Artie was her younger brother—named after our Grandpa Weasley—they usually got into mischief at home together. While _ma Tante_ Fleur got to name any girls she and Uncle Bill had, he had reserved the right to name any and all boys born to them. So far, they'd had Victoire, Artie, and their younger sister Gisele. But _ma Tante_ Fleur was pregnant again, and Uncle Bill would barely let her leave the house. The Healers had said that hers may be a tricky pregnancy because it was occurring later in life.

I had listened in when _ma Tante_ Fleur was telling Aunt Ginny during the summer. Mum hadn't known, so she hadn't caught me. But Dad had. He'd told me to go with him if I wanted to live. Mum had been showing him some older American movies, and he'd been quoting them constantly ever since. His favorite was a movie called "The Terminator" with some actor from Austria with a hard-to-pronounce name.

"Victoire and Teddy sitting in a tree!" Artie started singing. The boys started laughing, and Victoire, Veronica and I started shaking our heads. Boys were so immature.

"So Rose," Veronica said, looking pointedly at me, forking some of the shepherd's pie into her mouth.

"Yes, Veronica?" I said, wondering why she was looking at me like that.

"Do you see anyone you think is cute?" she asked. Then Victoire started giggling. I must've blushed.

"Look at her face, how red it is!" Victoire said. "There must someone she fancies!"

"Don't tease the poor girl," a boy next to Veronica said. "It's not very nice, Veronica."

"I know, Blake, but it's still fun!" Veronica said, leaning into the boy. He was very handsome. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and slightly darker skin than Veronica.

"Oh Veronica," he said, smiling at me. "Blake Wood, Gryffindor Quidditch captain, and team Keeper."

"And my wonderful boyfriend," Veronica said, smiling.

"Rose Weasley," I said, offering my hand. He shook it and said, "So am I going to have to have a team full of Weasleys then?"

"It certainly looks that way," I said, taking a bite of mushy peas. James was the team Seeker, Artie was a Chaser, and the twins Lucas and Logan were the team's Beaters.

"Anyway," Veronica said, cutting off any possibility of a conversation about Quidditch. "Who is it you fancy, Rose?"

I looked at my plate of food, wondering if I should answer or not. From the way Dad was talking about the Malfoy family at Platform 9¾, we couldn't be friends.

After thinking on it for a second, I said, "I don't fancy anyone."

"Of course you don't," Veronica said. "You're only turning red from the non-existent heat!" Then she and Victoire started laughing.

"Come off it, Veronica," Blake told her, wrapping his arm around her waist. "She doesn't want to tell anyone, leave her be."

"Blake, you are no fun sometimes," Veronica whined. "But I'll leave her alone."

I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Although I didn't actually _fancy_ Scorpius, I didn't really want to say we were friends yet either. I wasn't quite sure where we stood with one another—we'd met each other only a few hours ago. But I knew Dad didn't want me spending time with Scorpius for some strange reason.

As the feast continued, I slowly forgot about the girls' teasing. My cousins, Blake, and I got into a long conversation about Quidditch, and who were our favourite teams. My cousins and I mainly supported the Chudley Cannons, but I also liked the Holyhead Harpies. Blake also supported the Harpies, and Veronica didn't follow professional Quidditch. She only followed Hogwarts Quidditch matches.

I was about to start arguing with her—why only school matches and not professional matches?—when Headmaster Godolphin stood and spoke to us again.

"Now that we are all settled, fed, and Sorted, I have a few more announcements that need attending:

"First years, I remind you again that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students.

"Greenhouse Three is to remain undisturbed, as per Professor Longbottom's request.

"Quidditch trials will be held in a fortnight. Anyone interested in playing for his or her House, please talk to Madam Hooch.

"And finally, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes!"

A few students were groaning at some of the announcements—particularly the last one—but the Headmaster gave no indication that he'd heard them.

He then clapped his hands together and said loudly, "Now then, off you trot!"

All at once, the students stood up, the Prefects calling out to their Houses. My cousin Cornelius—Uncle Percy's son—was one of the Gryffindor Prefects. He started calling out to us and the twins Logan and Luke—Uncle George's boys—were mocking him. I couldn't help but laugh.

**So what do y'all think? By the way, I've noticed that, though I've had at least 500 hits for this story, there are only about 10 reviews. -_- I think y'all can do better than that! I'd really appreciate any feedback!**

**Remember, if you review you get a preview of the next chapter! And make sure you're logged in when you review! Otherwise I can't send you your preview. :-(**


	6. The House of Slytherin

**Yay! Another chapter up and running! This is in Scorpius' POV, and be warned, this one's a little creepy.**

**I still don't own anything remotely recognizable. And FYI, the description of the Slytherin Common Room is almost straight from CoS.**

**SPOV**

As we followed the prefects through the corridors to the Slytherin Common Room, I couldn't help but look up as the staircases moved and the ghosts roamed. One of the paintings along the walls was greeting everyone who passed her, teeth showing and eyes crinkling with her smile.

"Merlin, you must be Draco's son."

I turned toward the voice and saw one of the professors from the Feast earlier. He had dark hair with a little bit of silver in it; his eyes were bright blue, and seemed to look right through you. One of the prefects—the boy—looked at him and said, "Good evening, Professor Pucey. How are you?"

"Doing well, Warrington," Professor Pucey said. "Showing our first years to the dungeons?" A few of the others looked startled at the mention of dungeons. My father had told me about the Slytherin Common Room: how it was on the same level as the dungeons and how part of it was built under the lake, giving it an eerie green glow. I thought it would be interesting to see for myself.

Warrington just smiled. "I'm certainly taking them to the Common Room, professor."

"Good, good." Then Professor Pucey smiled. "I do hope some of you will try out for the House Quidditch team in a fortnight. We need more skilled players." With that, he started walking in the other direction. Then Warrington turned his back to us, simply telling us to follow him.

When we came to a stretch of bare, damp stone wall, Warrington stopped and said, "Salazar!" Where before was just a wall, there was now a large stone door that led to a large room with rough stone walls and a ceiling with round, greenish lamps hanging on chains. Ahead of us was an elaborately carved mantelpiece under which a large fire crackled. There were high-backed chairs around the fireplace, making the students seated in them look like nothing more than shadows.

"Ah, the first years have arrived!"

I looked and saw the striking blonde girl who was sitting with Marek during the feast. She looked at me pointedly, sneered, then addressed the whole of the group.

"I am Katerine Zabini," she said, "and I am the Head Girl here. While my rooms are not here, I am still part of Slytherin House, and therefore will be watching every single one of you while you are in the Common Room. I do NOT want to catch anyone here getting into trouble, nor do I want anyone's actions to reflect poorly on the noble house of Slytherin. We must all do our part to make Salazar Slytherin proud!" Then she turned and pointed to the large painting that was above the mantelpiece. It was of Salazar Slytherin himself, looking down on the Common Room with a stoic expression on his face. "Anyone caught disgracing the name of Slytherin will be reported directly to our Head of House, Professor Pucey. Be warned, Pucey may seem like your best mate at times, but he has no sympathy for those who make fools of themselves." She narrowed her eyes at the whole group. "Girls, the dormitory is to the right. Boys, your dormitory is to the left. Now, BED!"

While the rest of the students scrambled to get to their dormitories, I felt a sharp tug on the back of my robes. I turned, and there was Katerine and Marek.

"Little Scorpius Malfoy," Katerine sneered. "How did you like my start of term address?"

I rolled my eyes. I really didn't want to get into an argument. I just wanted to go to bed. When I started walking towards the Boys' Dormitories, she dug her nails into my arm, keeping me where I was.

"I was talking to you, Malfoy!" she hissed. Marek just looked on in amusement, not bothering to help me or Katerine. I glared at her, inwardly wincing and willing her to let my arm go. She simply dug her nails further into my arm as if to tell me that there was no possible way to escape her.

"What do you want?" I asked, not letting her see the pain she was inflicting in my arm.

"Why, we weren't finished with our conversation from dinner, _Scorpius_," Marek said, snaking his arm around Katerine's waist. She eased up a little on my arm, and I resisted the urge to rub it. Her nails were almost like the talons of my giant eagle owl, Artemis, a gift from my father for my eleventh birthday.

"There's nothing to finish," I said, walking towards the dormitories. Behind me, I could hear Marek telling Katerine something about her Veela side showing, then I heard the tell-tale sounds of them snogging. I cringed when I rounded the corner to the dormitory.

When I pushed the door open, all I could see were closed, emerald-green curtains on the four-poster beds. At the top of each canopy was a silver serpent with an emerald for an eye that seemed to be either watching over the beds' occupants or just watching them—I wasn't sure which.

"Scorpius?"

I heard my name, and I turned and saw an older student. He'd introduced himself earlier at the feast. His name was, unbelievably, Romeo Montague. He'd told me his mother was a fan of an old Muggle playwright named Shakespeare, and had named him after her favorite of his characters. My father had told me of Shakespeare's writing, and had actually told me about some of his plays. I remembered the story of Romeo and Juliet, and found it slightly odd that a mother would name her son after a boy who kills himself over a girl.

"Yeah, Romeo?" I asked, walking to my trunk to find my nightclothes. Artemis opened one of her golden eyes, then closed it again when she saw that I didn't have anything to give her.

"What do you think of Katerine?" he asked, pulling back one of the curtains on his bed. I looked over at him, wondering why he would ask such a question.

"I think she needs to get over herself and stop acting like she's better than everyone simply because she's Head Girl," I told him truthfully. I didn't like Katerine, even though I'd seen the looks many of the older male students gave her. It was really sort of disgusting how they looked at her.

"Well, did you also notice that she's at least part veela?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"How do you know that?" I asked him. "How can you tell?"

"It's a little obvious when you know what to look for," he said. He sounded like an adult then, and I briefly wondered how old he was.

"Well, I can't see how she's part veela," I said. "I certainly don't like her."

"You don't have to like a veela to be attracted to one, Scorpius," he told me. I just looked at him with a blank expression. I wasn't sure where he was going with this conversation.

"Why are you telling me this, Romeo?" I asked. "Do you have some point to this conversation?"

"I do, actually," Romeo said. When he didn't say anything, I just turned back around and started changing. When I took my robes and underclothes off, I heard a quick intake of breath. I knew Romeo had seen the ugly scar on my back.

I'd gotten the scar when I was about five years old. Mother and Father were arguing about something trivial—again—and Mother had taken her wand out. Father was trying to calm her down, trying to get her to put her wand away, when she shot a curse at him. Unfortunately I'd tried to get her attention and she ended up pointing her wand at me. While I'd turned around to protect myself instinctively, Mother's curse had hit me, splitting open my back from the top of my right shoulder to the bottom of my left hip with small cuts branching off it. Even though Father had Apparated me to St. Mungo's almost immediately, the Healers couldn't do much since the injury was caused my magic. So now I had a nasty-looking scar covering most of my back.

I hastily put on my pajamas, not wanting him to continue gawking at my scar.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Romeo finally asked.

"Just leave it be," I snapped. "Now, what was the point of asking me about Katerine being part veela?"

Romeo shrugged. "It's probably not that big a deal, but usually every lad from eleven to eighteen stares at her like she's a goddess, and you're the only one who hasn't."

I looked at him curiously. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well," he said, finally sitting up fully on his bed. "Usually the only lads who don't stare at her are either the ones with girlfriends, or the ones in love."

"What?" I nearly yelled. I tolerated girls, sure. I had to. Father would jinx me if he knew I wasn't tolerating his important colleagues' daughters during the few parties I was allowed to attend. But a girlfriend?

I must've made some sort of face because Romeo started laughing. When I asked him what was so funny he just shook his head and lay back down, closing the curtains while he did so.

_You are an odd one, Romeo,_ I thought to myself. As I lay down on my bed, getting comfortable on the soft mattress, I thought back to what Katerine and Marek had said during the feast. _"The war is still going on!"_? What did that mean? Everyone knew that the war had ended close to two decades ago, long before any of us students were born!

I put it out of my mind and got back up for a moment to write a letter to Father, letting him know that I was in Slytherin and telling him about meeting the Potters and Weasleys on the train, as well as some of the other students. It was then I realized that Christophe Black was also in Slytherin, though I hadn't seen him since the train. But I just sealed the letter, handing it to Artemis so she could carry it to Father. I climbed back into bed and closed my eyes. The last thing I saw was the smile on Rose Weasley's face as she was Sorted into the rest of her family.

**Chapter 6! Can't believe how this story is taking on a life of its own in my head! O.O I'm still debating how far into the future I want this story to go, even though I've pretty much got their whole lives playing in my head. But they're still only 11 years old! So to my readers: How far do you think I should take the story? All 7 years? A little into their futures? Or just a few years into their Hogwarts days? Let me know in a review!**

**P.S. What should Teddy Lupin's occupation be?**


	7. The House of Gryffindor

**I'm so sorry y'all! End of college, final exams, and summer classes PLUS work has left me with almost no time to get on ! So, to all y'all who reviewed the last chapter, I'm so sorry I didn't get your excerpts to you! But, with my summer class over, and working a part-time job, I should have a lot more time to devote to writing. So, we left off with Scorpius getting the third degree from the half-veela Katerine and finding out about his scar. :-( Anyways, on with the story!**

RPOV

When we got to a giant picture of a robust woman, my cousin Cornelius stopped. Then she moved and asked him for the password. Enunciating clearly, he said, "Numquam titillandus." The woman then smiled, and her entire portrait swung open. Cornelius led us through the archway to a beautiful room decorated with reds and golds. The room was cozy, and had plush armchairs and a large fireplace. There were two spiral staircases which I assumed led up to the dormitories.

"Now," my cousin said, "all of your belongings have already been brought up to your rooms. Girls, your dormitory is upstairs and down to your right; boys, to the same on your left." He then went on explaining the rules of the Common Room and who could post what on the bulletain board by the fireplace. I tuned him out-he'd already explained in vivid detail the duties of Prefect during Grandma Weasley's annual summer luncheon. Uncle Percival was the most interested, listening to his son and giving him pointers on what to do in specific situations.

I looked around the Common Room, taking everything in. The room really was beautiful, and there were two tables with sets of Wizard's Chess sitting on them. I wanted to take a closer look at the chess sets, but the others were suddenly moving, I assumed to go to bed. I followed the rest of the girls to the dormitories, and gasped with the rest of them at the beautiful four-poster beds with their large velvet curtains. While my room at home was not that small, I could easily fit three of it in this one room alone. There was a furnace in the middle of the beds, and I could feel the heat coming off it as soon as the door was opened.

Climbing into bed, I noticed that the curtains were being drawn by themselves. Thinking of how convenient that was, I started to close my eyes when I heard someone saying my name.

"Rose?" I looked and saw a girl who I'd seen on the train, and remembered her name had something to do with...astronomy?

"Yes?" I replied, barely touching the drapes before they opened back up.

"What's it like?" she asked, seeming a little shy. She had black hair that looked like it had blue in it, and I couldn't make out the colour of her eyes with the shadow going across them.

"What's what like?" I asked. If she mentioned my uncle...

"Being related to Harry Potter?"

Of course. Sighing, I decided to answer her question with vagueness.

"It's normal, I guess. He's a lot of fun, and he and my parents are best mates."

"But he's famous!" she exclaimed a little too loudly. The other girls in the room looked over, and decided to join in. They all started going on about how it was so amazing that I had a famous uncle, and how my parents had helped destroy Lord Voldemort, and so on. After a little while of listening to them gossip about everything and nothing, I tuned them out to go to bed. The velvet curtains closed once more, and the thick material all but silenced their chattering.

In the quiet sanctuary of my bed, I closed my eyes and fell asleep quickly.

***Begin Dream***

I was in the Gryffindor Common Room, the fire blazing and the whole room lit from the flame.

"Rose."

"Hello?" I called. "Is someone there?" I tried to turn around, but I was held in place. I couldn't move.

"Rose, you know me."

The voice was coming from behind me, and I still couldn't turn around. But I wasn't scared.

"Who are you?"

"There's a snake in the garden, Rose," the voice said. It sounded so familiar, but I just couldn't place it...

***End Dream***

I woke with a start. I heard something from outside my bed, and I touched one of the curtains. The curtain barely moved before my bed was flooded with light. For an instant, I thought it was someone holding an illuminated wand in my face-as my cousin Artie was fond of doing-but I realized the light was coming from the windows. I leaned over to pull my watch from the top of my bedside table and saw that it was almost seven o'clock. Classes didn't start until until eight, but I needed to get up to start getting ready anyway. I thought back to my dream from the night before, and thought that it was odd that, even though the situation was eerie, I didn't remember feeling frightened.

I dressed in my robes, and I noticed the Hogwarts crest had been replaced with that of Gryffindor. Just as I was tying my robes together, I heard movement from the other 4 beds in the room.

"Good morning," I said, seeing the girl who started the inquisition last night opening her bed curtains as well.

"Good morning, Rose," she said. "Do you remember what class we have this morning?" I went to my bedside table to look at the schedule, and saw that the first year Gryffindors had Potions with the first year Slytherins. I smiled, wondering if Scorpius and I could have seats at least close to each other.

"Rose!"

"Yes?" I asked, looking up from my schedule. "Oh, we have Potions with the Slytherin first years this morning."

"Thank you!" She then disappeared into the lavatory, and I went down to the Common Room. As I walked into the room, I saw my cousins James and Al playing a game of chess despite the early hour. I wished them a good morning, and they looked up at me. James' hair was a rumpled mess, and Al's shorter hair was barely out of place.

"Al, are you ready for your first day of class?" I asked, pulling up a chair to watch the end of their match.

"We have Potions with the Slytherins today, don't we?" he asked. I nodded, and he smiled. "You want to see Scorpius agian." It wasn't a question. I merely slapped the back of his head, but not so hard as to cause real injury. He laughed, and James joined in. Sticking my tongue out at them, I remembered I'd forgotten to grab my bag from the the dormitory. Running back up the stairs, I stopped outside the door and heard the other girls chattering excitedly.

"...can't believe it!"

"The sons of Harry Potter!"

"James Potter is so..."

I opened the door, not wanting to hear any more. All the conversations stopped when I walked in, and I pretended not to notice the girls all looking at me. I grabbed my bag and was about to head out the door before one of the girls stopped me.

"You're Rose Weasley, right?" she asked me. As if my red hair and freckles weren't a dead give-away.

"Yes, I am." I tried to be civil, but my mother had warned me that this would more than likely happen. She'd told me that girls would want to be with James or Al simply because they were their father's sons and therefore famous by default.

"Do you think you could introduce me to your cousin?" she asked, flipping her blonde hair behind her ears.

"Well, Cornelius is a little shy, but I guess I could give you and introduction," I told her.

"Cornelius?" the blonde asked. "You mean the Prefect? Oh no, silly girl, I meant James!"

"Oh I know," I said. "But I will not subject my cousin to the games of a silly female like yourself." And with that parting cut, I left the dormitory, slinging my bag over my shoulder. When I got downstairs, I walked over to James and whispered in his ear about irritating females wanting to play mind games. Al and I, seeing that James had won the match, left to head to Potions with the Slytherins. We walked together to the dungeons, and nearly ran into Scorpius right outside the large door.

"I'm so sorry," I said, my voice a little higher than it normally was.

"It's alright," he said, smiling. He looked very smart in his Slytherin robes, and I know my face turned about three shades of red from unexplained embarrasment. "Shall we go in?"

**So what do y'all think? Leave me a review with your thoughts! And I promise I will get the excerpts to you next time!**


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